The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-01-08
AN UNDERGROUND TRAGEDY.


collect In heavy mass overhead. The streets
Of London were slushy, and the payements
cold and slippery with their coating of soft
Maud. At7:30 p. m, the diurnal rush from
city to suburb had died its usual natural
death. The bearish scramble for the omnibus
was over for the day; so also the flood tide OF
human traffic on the Underground Railway,
OF brain tollers In the city only those who had
been detained BY unusual causes or by stress
Of work were abroad.
Among the stragglers who hurried into the
harrington Street station about the hour men
toned, n tall man with somewhat bowed
shoulders might have been remarked. There
was nothing particularly striking about his
appearance save his beard, which was unusu-
ally thick and unkempt for these prm times
His clothes were OF a cut and preservation
such as to suggest the possession by their
vearer of average means He wore All ordi'
nary oyercoat of dark material, the collar OF
which was turned up; and in his gloveless
hand (gloves are out Of place In such wealth
cry he carried an umbrella dry and furled
"Gower Street." said the person / have
briefly described, on STOPPING TO present his
face at the window Of the ticket office.
what classm
''Firstn Then, while the clerk was stamp
ing the ticket, the bearded man, with some
deliberation, laid his umbrella on the ledge
Of the window and proceeded to draw some
money from his pocket Having paid for and
received his ticket, he hurried away.
"Hir' shouted the clerk "youre leaving
your umbrella" The man came back took
his umbrella, muttercd Thank you" iu his
beard, and again hurried away.
'Funny customer thatl solioquzed the
clerk. Doesn't use his umbrella, and doesn't
remember 1t. good camp wasted on an
idiot-and In such weather as this too"
Meanwhile the absent-minded stranger had
had his ticket clipped, passed through the
gates and reached the platform Here he
stood motioness under the board wait here
for first -class.m He had not long to wait. In
a few moments a train drew up at the plat
form. 1t was fairly peoplcd in the third class,
and sparsely in the second, while the first
class compartments IN the centre OF the train
we're all unoccuped with The exception OF one.
That one contained solitary man, and into
that compartment the bearded traveller after
q hurried glance at the other carriages, enter
cd. No one else entered the carriage after
the man whose movements we are following.
A few moments and the train moved on TO
Kings Cross-a very short run from Earring
ton; one of the shortest, in fact on the line.
The bearded man had taken the corner next
the door he had entered and fronting the
engine. His face was turned toward his fell
iow-passenger; but its expression could not
have been seen through his beard, and even
his eyes were concealed by his hat, which he
had pulled forward. The other occupant OF
the compartment sat at the far end, with his
back toward the engine. He was middle-agcd,
very slight in figure and well-dressed. His
face was thin, delicate, and extremely agree
able his hair both Of head and face was
somewhat grey, short, and carefully trimmed.
Altogether this passenger had an air of neat
ness and refinement about him. You would
have said at once that he was gentleman.
The train stopped at Kings Cross and then
started on its longer run TO Cover Street, and
still these two men were alone. Perhaps the
foul suphurous atmosphere peculiar TO the
Underground Railway was more pronounced
here, for as the train moved from the station
the bearded man calculated BAH" and
shifted from the window half way along the
seat His feow-passenger, Who with his hat
pushed back from his high white forehead
was smiling over one Of the comic papers,
looked up for a moment and returned 20 his
diversion. A momentl An innocent, half
surprised glance at the man who sat with
down turned face almost exactly opposite him.
That was all. No instinct Of peril No
prompting TO vigilance and defence.
For the bearded mans hand had crept TO his
pocket, and his eyes blazing with greed for
crime had risen from the floor and fastened
upon his neighbours breast from which the
eyercoat had been drawn aside. And stu
there was no instinct OF danger, no thought
OF III, as the small man read his last wttcsm
and smiled his last smile and 30 smiling re.
ceived TO its hilt in his breast the sharp, fierce
driven knife short strange, horrible gasp,
the vlctir1's last effort at respiration, and
moving OF startled, death-hlled eyes, which,
staring for moment, with no recognition,
but wondering horror at the murderer, asked,
"What have done to thecn and then the
stricken mans head fell upon bs breast and
his life went out
One minute only had passed since the train
left Kings Cross and time was still with the
murderer Many moments wonld pass before
Cover Street was reached, precious momentsl
He had done the murder; he had still TO save
himself. He had stood while his victim died,
bent forward and motionless-eyes hidden
by the muscular contraction OF forehead and
checks, and the glltterlng white teeth show
lag through the thick beard and mustache. lie
recovered himself by a spasmotic movement
His first care was to throw the comic paper
out Of the window. Then he seized the warm
dead body which had slipped down along the